Your strings, when in Standard Tuning, are E A D and G, going from thickest to thinnest. "Drop tuning" half a step means you are de-tuning one or more of your strings so that they play a different pitch.

In this case, it's a half-step, or the difference between one piano key and the next, in terms of pitch.

So your E becomes an E flat, your A an A flat, etc. Sometimes you only detune your E string, sometimes you detune all of the strings. It depends on what the song requires. If you have a tuner, set it to E flat (Or D sharp) and tune. If you don't have a tuner, play the sixth fret on your A string- that will give you an E flat one octave higher. You can tune to that.

Originally posted by nitrous3a8 yo, i am new to this form, and so far it kicks ass

now, seeing as how i am a noob, how do u 'Drop - 1/2 A Step' please help me, i need it

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WELCOME! To TB!

Down or Drop tuning involves tuning the strings down from their normal EADG tuning. Tuning down a whole step, for example, would give you DGCF as open strings. Many bassists only tune down their E string a whole step, giving them a bass that is DADG. There is no set pattern to down tuning, some players only down tune half a step, others several. The advantage, of course, is that you can play notes that are normally below the bass' normal range. However, by tuning the string down you are changing the string's tension, making it more likely to rattle, and giving it a different feel.